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Universe 0 (Sappho) (Completed) Forum Story Post Log of Lanternmansions, year 101 (as recorded by Aira Gillquake, expedition leader/bookkeeper) SPRING 1 Granite The Reclusive Tools, founders of Lanternmansions, came to unanimous agreement on this location for their settlement. The suggestion was made by Atir, seconded by Kosoth, agreed by the rest. Minor objection raised by Geshud was quickly withdrawn when the others didn't support it. Members of the Reclusive Tools and their chosen roles in Lanternmansions: {C}Aira Gillquake - Leader (nominated by Atir, no objections raised by the rest), Bookkeeper, Broker, Manager {C}Atir Filledlabor - Farmer, Cook, Brewer, Butcher, and anything else related to food {C}Geshud Stokerseals - Miner {C}Ilral Rimlungs - Mason, Craftsdwarf {C}Inod Lanternact - Miner {C}Kosoth Humidoils - Woodcutter, Carpenter {C}Zulban Flukedyes - Animal Caretaker The local area is somewhat varied, but appears stable and relatively safe. The expedition has come to a stop at the top of a gentle hill. The hill is covered in snow, but the temperature is not terribly low and it is likely to melt soon. The lower areas around us are already free of snow and ice and the green grass of spring is already visible. The border of a black sand desert is visible in the Northwest, with bits of woodlands and grassland surrounding. The first planned tasks are to clear some trees for wood, dig an underground area for storing supplies and begin to set up living quarters and some sort of working area. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/002Startingsurvey.gif 8 Granite As expected, the snow melted quickly after arrival and the area is now green save for the black sands to the northwest. The miners Geshud and Inod dug out a temporary underground storage area just below the surface and the other five are busy transporting all of the supplies there. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/004initialstockpile.gif The miners are now working deeper underground to delve out some more permanent areas in stone. Hematite has already been found, a good sign for future projects. This is the first valuable mineral discovered here, but it is believed there is a great deal more to be found in this region. Some sparrow men and women were spotted near the digging site. Six in total. For the time being they seem content to keep to themselves. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/003sparrows.gif 9 Granite Tetrahedrite has been discovered. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/005tetrahedrite.gif There are honey bee colonies outside. Eventually a honey industry might be started up, though this is not a priority. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/006honeybees.gif 16 Granite A temporary mason's workshop has been set up by Ilral for producing a few items to keep our outpost protected in some meager way. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/007tempmason.gif Kosoth has agreed to set up a carpentry shop as well to produce our first beds, but insists on waiting until he has completed his current tasks outdoors. Geshud and Inod are making good progress on a farming and food production area, made the priority at Atir's request. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/008farmingarea.gif 29 Granite The only entrance to the outpost is now secured with hatch covers. Geshud points out that it is a meager defense against anything determined to get in, but Inod, optimistic as ever, says she is confident that we won't need to worry about such things in such a calm area. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/009hatchcovers.gif 11 Slate Atir is finally satisfied with the state of the food processing area "for the time being". http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/011foodarea.gif He has suggested that the miners now work at digging out our living quarters. No one argued with his suggestion, as everyone is already tired of sleeping in the dirt and some bedrooms will be welcome, as will a proper dining hall. Ilral has offered his designs for these areas and they have been approved by all. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/010diningandlivingarea.gif Personal Note: An office for the bookkeeper/manager (that is, me, Aira) is necessary in order to obtain an accurate count of our supplies, but Atir is quite adamant that his private quarters, office, and dining room must be a top priority in order that he may maintain our most important of resources: our food supply. It seems to me that he hardly needs such extravagant rooms just to grow mushrooms, but he's been very pushy about it. I can't see any need to fight him on this matter, but I hope he will be finished with the miners soon so they can work on other projects. -A.G. 16 Felsite The bedrooms are finally nearing completion and Atir seems content with his rooms. Now Ilral and Kosoth are pushing for some proper workshops. It seems a reasonable enough next step, so I've passed the plans on to the miners to dig out. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/012firstworkshops.gif Quite a few useful and valuable materials have been discovered already on our main floor. The list now includes: *Hematite *Tetrahedrite *Native Copper *Native Aluminum *Galena *Cinnabar *Cobaltite *Microcline Personal Note: Oh so much microcline! Ilral has already constructed several doors, tables, and chairs from it, just because it was nearby and I never specified which stones to use. Once I have a proper office - which should be soon, thankfully - I'll start logging more detailed orders for items to be constructed. -A.G. SUMMER 1 Hematite After a long conversation with Atir, Kosoth has decided to change his name to Seaslay. He has declined to disclose his reasons for doing so and has been given special permission to make said change without an officially declared reason. Technically the bylaws of our civilization require that a reason be given for any name change, as it runs counter to tradition, but sKoso/sSeaslay was really pushy about it and I couldn't think of a reason to really fight him on this. It's his name, after all, and he seems a bit unstable, don't want to antagonize him. -A.S. 13 Hematite The workshop area is progressing well. Most of the shops are set up. Eventually it will need to be expanded for some metalworking operations, but no one has asked for it yet and I don't want to be too pushy. Everyone is very busy lately. -A.S. The miners have also dug out a nice area for a trade depot to be set up, so trade can be conducted with the many friendly surrounding civilizations and especially the trade representatives from the mountainhomes. They've also dug out a tunnel to the outer wall, but haven't breached it yet. I don't see much threat from anything outside, but Geshud refused to dig through the last bit of protective dirt because we have "no defenses." To be honest, he's pretty good with that pick and tough and strong enough that I doubt anything from outside would mess with us if he stood guard by the door. But he's also tough and strong enough that, "leader" or not, I'm not about to try to force him to do anything. I guess we'll wait until we have some kind of defense before we open up the trading area. -A.S. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/013tradedepotarea.gif http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/014depotfutureentrance.gif 16 Hematite Since she doesn't have any official responsibilities yet and Ilral has pointed out that our living areas are still pretty rough-looking, I have designated Zulban to smooth out the walls and floors of the dining room and bedrooms to make it a bit more homey in here. She simply nodded with a blank expression on her face and replied that she would get to it "pretty soon." http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/015zulbanbreak.gif 1 Malachite At last, there is an office for the expedition leader / bookkeeper / broker / manager! http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/016airasoffice.gif The stocks must be counted immediately. Zulban has also begun work smoothing the walls and floors, starting with Atir's private quarters. He made a very compelling argument for this which I can no longer remember. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/017zulbansmoothingatirsarea.gif 7 Malachite Now that our main floor is dug out as much as needs be, the miners have been instructed to dig deeper down into the rock to explore for useful minerals. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/018livingarea.gif Meanwhile, everyone has agreed that when someone is not busy, they will spend their free time removing the rock clutter from the rooms which have already been carved out. This will take a while, since we are rarely "not busy." 19 Malachite The miners are doing well. In our short initial exploratory tunnel we have found: *Malachite *Native Copper *Native Gold *Cobaltite *Cinnabar *Hornblende Oh, and Microcline. Oh so very much Microcline. There will never be a Microcline shortage in this fortress. 2 Galena A group of migrants from the mountainhomes have arrived. This is surprising as we have not yet made contact with them since we started out and they have no proof of the mineral wealth they suspected would be here. They were correct, of course, but they haven't seen it yet. I guess they must really just trust the leadership here. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/020migrants.gif There were seven of them altogether, doubling our numbers. Five of the seven form a family with three children and the other two are married. Although all of the adults call themselves "farmers," they admit to having far more skill with weapons and combat than with food. They seem to have headed in this direction in an attempt to leave this violence behind, but we have no military yet and it's never a good idea to leave an entire fortress - even such a small one - unguarded. At least, that's what Geshud says, and he's pretty pushy about it. The local area seems relatively calm as far as we've seen - nothing but giant sparrows, thrips, and moths, which seem happy to keep to themselves so far. It hardly seems a bad idea to put a few of these newcomers on guard duty and keep them training for future use, just in case. Meanwhile the others can help out Atir with our food supplies, since we now have three uncontributing mouths to feed in addition to the working adults. The newcomers are: Urvad Claspedmeshes, experienced fighter with forty-four (44) kills on his record. Skilled hammerdwarf, Adequate at shields, armor, and dodging, Novice butcher, tanner, and shearer, and Talented tracker. Here with his wife Solon. Solon Swelterbanners, Competent axedwarf, Novice at shields, armor, and dodging, Novice cook, grower, and spinner. Here with her husband Urvad. Tun Quillfortresses, Competent hammerdwarf, Novice at shields, armor, and dodging, Novice tanner, grower, and spinner. Here with her husband Sazkul and three of their five children. Sazkul Breathfurnace, Competent Swordsdwarf, Novice at shields, armor, and dodging, Novice cheesemaker, milker, and cook. Here with his wife Tun and three of their five children. Tobul Girderbend, age 11 - eldest daughter of Tun and Sazkul. Dastot Tealhame, age 7 - second youngest son of Tun and Sazkul. Aban Inkclouds, age 6 - youngest son of Tun and Sazkul. Owner of a pet gosling. Official job assignments will be made soon, once I've thought things over and consulted with the others regarding our next steps. 7 Galena Updates to the official list of residents (errors corrected in the reported names of newcomers and newly assigned duties listed): Sazkul Carzak Breathfurnace, farmer. Currently assigned as assistant to Atir (although he is more experienced). Duties are likely to be changed when food production catches up and other things are more needed. Aban Inkclouds Iggy McNatz, child. Urvad Claspedmeshes, militia commander. He has accepted the position as the only one of us with any combat experience and promised to train a small defense against any future intrusion. Currently he is awaiting a weapon, for which reason we are now setting up a small metalworking area. (Proper metalworking industry will remain on hold until an experienced metalworker arrives or it becomes necessary to train one from scratch.) For the time being, Urvad will assist in clearing the newly-mined areas of stone. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/021urvadskills.gif Tun Quillfortresses, mason and temporary metalworker. She has agreed to take over Ilral's duties as mason (he is hardly more skilled than her anyway) so that he may concentrate on his more "creative" work in the craftsdwarf workshop, producing pots for our booze and trinkets to send back to the mountainhomes. 11 Galena ''' Zulban is getting pretty good at this stone detailing business. Maybe by the time she gets to the main dining hall and living area, she'll be able to do some nice engravings for us. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/022zulbantheengraver.gif ''AUTUMN'' '''20 Limestone Our main living area is getting progressively nicer. At this rate, by the end of the year we will be fully set up and ready to move on to other projects. A second group of migrants has arrived, again in family groups, though we have yet to meet with any representative from the mountainhomes. Their confidence in our leadership must be high indeed. Again the adults first declare their minor experience with mundane tasks before admitting that their primary skill is with weapons and fighting. Perhaps there is some rumor going around the mountainhome that our outpost is a good place for families looking to escape the violent life of home. It's really quite annoying. -A.S. Newcomers: Kubuk Crazedhame, Competent axedwarf, Novice shield/armor user and dodger, Dabbling wrestler, striker, and kicker, Novice fish cleaner/dissector and fisherdwarf. Here with her husband Scientist and daughter Udil. Scientist Fountainweavers, Competent swordsdwarf, Novice shield/armor user and dodger, Adequate brewer, wound dresser, and diagnostician. Here with his wife Kubuk and daughter Udil. Udil Slaveshoots, child, age 2 (youngest so far). Here with her mother Kubuk and father Asen. Onol Boltedfocused, Competent hammerdwarf, Novice shield/armor user and dodger, Adequate cheese maker, Novice dyer/shearer/bookkeeper. Here with her husband Datan. Datan Boatpaper, Competent marksdwarf, Novice shield/armor user and dodger, Novice engraver/mason/animal trainer/animal dissector/trapper. Here with his wife Onol. Kosoth Workrise, Competent speardwarf, Novice shield/armor user and dodger, Adequate wood burner. He has a wife but appears to have left her back at the mountainhomes. Libash Burialboat, Competent hammerdwarf, Novice shield/armor user and dodger, Dabbling wrestler/striker/kicker, Adequate milker. Here with his wife Dastot. Dastot Axesounded, Competent speardwarf, Novice shield/armor user and dodger, Adequate animal dissector. Here with her husband Libash. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/023migrants2.gif Scientist has agreed to take charge of setting up some medical facilities. Until we are prepared to do that, he will assist with the general cleanup of the fortress (removal of stone from rooms, mostly). Kubuk requested the role of fisherdwarf, and as we have none yet, there don't seem to be any dangerous fish nearby, and we could use some variety in our diets, I've given her the OK. Onol will be used for her knowledge of beekeeping to set up some hives for honey. Before long we should be able to add mead to our menu of booze. For now, Datan will be put in charge of training our dogs into something more useful than the loyal yet... undisciplined creatures they are now. Kosoth will help out in the temporary metalworking area, burning wood for coal and maybe trying his hand at smelting or even metalworking. Who knows, maybe he'll even get good at it and we can start a proper metalworking industry. Not sure what to do with Libash and Dastot. They might best serve us by honing those fighting skills and serving as guards. Udil will be milling around causing trouble and eating all our food along with the rest of the children. -A.S. The new population total is 22. 18 Timber The traders from the mountainhomes have arrived as expected. Unfortunately they brought less than anticipated, as they left their wagons on the road, since the bridge is not complete yet, because Tun has been on break for the past few days. Maybe it's time to assign a second mason. At least we can now send word back to the mountainhomes that their suspicion was correct and this area is very rich in minerals. Hopefully we will also be able to supplement our still-meager food stores. One would think that with Atir in possession of the best-equipped parts of the fortress, our food industry would be booming, but so far we're just managing to get by. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/025traders.gif WINTER 3 Moonstone The traders and representatives from the mountainhomes seem satisfied with what they see. In exchange for the crafts and mugs Ilral has created, they offered us a fair amount of food, some cloth and leather, and a single warhammer for use by Urvad in starting up our military, to hold us over until we get our own metalworking industry going. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/026trading.gif Meanwhile, Tun is keeping herself busy setting up an area outside for Onol to start beekeeping. She's also putting a wall around our initial entrance, just for safety. Eventually we'll supplement this with drawbridges. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/027wall.gif 24 Moonstone I have met with the guild representative to put in our order for next year's caravan. Most of what I ordered was by Atir's request - some more birds to provide us with egg variety, cloth for nicer clothes. More seeds for planting, that sort of thing. I'm starting to get tired of this job title, "expedition leader." I'm not leading anything, I'm just taking orders from everyone around me and making them official. I never wanted this job and it's starting to become an irritation. In addition to keeping the records (which is lovely work) and negotiating with the traders, I also have to keep track of everything going on in the fortress (impossible) and take everyone's requests and then rephrase them in official speech to make them sound like my idea. I'm considering resigning this position. There is legal precedent for this. But I must find the right dwarf to take over - everything must stay carefully balanced! -A.S. 7 Opal On his way out, the liaison left me with the mountainhomes' requests for next year's caravan. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/028tradeagreement.gif They seem quite interested in the sorts of crafts which Ilral is already experienced in making, so we should be fine on that front. 18 Opal It's snowing outside. The poor guard dogs are getting full of the stuff. Unfortunately a few of the dwarfs still need to do work outside, like completing that wall and setting up the rest of the bee hives. Fortunately for me, my work requires me to stay safe inside at this desk. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/029snow.gif We're getting close to having the barracks set up. Just waiting on weapon and armor racks from the masons, and a few weapons from the metalworking area, which I'm told are finally almost done. Urvad is impatient to get started training the others. (He said that when the time comes to actually face a risky situation, he wants others to be skiled enough that he needn't be in the front lines himself. Some soldier.) http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/030barracks.gif 15 Obsidian A thief has been spotted at our original entrance. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/031thief.gif It ran off immediately after being seen and doesn't seem to have managed to take anything, but we must take this as a sign that there are hostile creatures out there who will pose a threat to our new fortress. We must make our defenses more of a priority. The small military force is already gathering their equipment and starting training sessions. We've assigned a few idle dwarves to temporary masonry duty to complete the wall and bridges and Dastot, our resident mechanic now, is starting to rig up a lever system. We'll also have to post a few guard dogs near that upper entrance until we can get it secure. Hopefully the puppies born this year will quickly grow to be large enough to be trained. Urvad was standing right by that kobold carrying his war hammer and ready to go, but he ran away. Not exactly a risk-taker, that one. We might have to keep him solely as a trainer and let the others take on the military responsibility. -A.S. 18 Obsidian The "military" has begun their training regime in the new barracks. They are already requesting nicer-looking quarters, but it can't be a priority right now. The current force consists of the two married couples with military experience and no children. Urvad: Hammer (militia commander, primary trainer) Solon: Axe Libash: Hammer Dastot: Spear http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/034barracksready.gif 23 Obsidian That Scientist has shoved Ilral out of the craftsdwarf workshop. He had a freakishly ecstatic expression on his face and said something about having "the BEST idea." http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/032scientistmood.gif I think this last little event might push me over the edge. I've decided to resign this position by the end of the year, about a week from now. I'll organize all my notes to pass on to someone else. If the others insist that I keep my job title, then I will agree only on the condition that it is in name only and someone else do all the actual work, perhaps as my "representative" or something. -A.S. 24 Obsidian Well he's taken a few fairly valuable raw materials in there and started work. Hopefully his creation will be something useful. We need him to get moving on that hospital. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/033moodcomponents.gif 28 Granite That's it, I'm done. Someone else will be taking over. I've narrowed my choice down to two different dwarfs, not to be named here. They will have to work out amongst themselves who will take the job. Following are my notes on the current state of the fortress. The living area is large enough for now. Zulban is still smoothing all the walls and floors. It's slow going, but she doesn't seem to mind. We've also carved out an area for a statue garden or zoo or something but haven't gotten around to decorating it. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/035endquarters.gif The workshops are set up in a way that seems to work for the time being. Stockpiles are located underneath but so far only the wood pile has been set up (to prevent dwarfs from running outside every time they need wood). Scientist is still in the craftsdwarf workshop doing whatever it is he's doing. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/036endworkshops.gif The barracks are set up and the "soldiers" are set to train all the time. The barracks are located behind the stairs to the trade depot, and the largish room there is designed for stockpiling crafts and other trade goods (though the stockpiles themselves need to be set up). http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/037endbarracks.gif Atir has a nice area set up for his living space. Above that is the farming/food area. Much of this is set up already, as Atir requested it be made a priority. There is more space earmarked for expansion of the fields and a more dedicated animal area. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/039endfoodarea.gif Under the main living area we are setting up a hospital. So far there are only beds and an office, but surgical tables are being produced and we have enough mechanisms to make traction benches as well. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/040endhospital.gif The current fortress entrance is small but its protection is nearly ready. We need a roof over the wall and a drawbridge at the door (and doors, come to think of it). The beekeeping area is set and ready to go, just waiting for those bees to do their stuff. If it works out well, we'll have to expand our beekeeping industry in the future. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/042endwall.gif The future main entrance is pretty much ready to go. There are two war dogs guarding it, but maybe someone will want to add traps or something in the future. This entrance is waiting for the drawbridge. It's designed but waiting on a mason to be free to actually build the thing. Then we'll need a lever for it - I leave that to the next "leader" of Lanternmansions to figure out. http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/043endentrance.gif http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l540/meganleb/041endbridge.gif So that's it, that's all I have to say. I'm going to take a nap now, and then I'm going to sit at my desk with my books and update the count of valuable stones the miners have found underground. Good luck, whoever takes over. Save File - Year End Universe 0 Further Reading Universe 1 (+!!Scientist!!+) Universe 2 (ignatzami)